I’ve spent over two decades on stages around the world as a charity auctioneer. Even in the earliest years of my career, my job exposed me to titans of industry and people at the highest levels of business. But as I became more experienced in my career, I always had the same thought: What am I doing here? Everyone here knows so much more than I do. 

Any comments or thoughts I planned to share remained exactly that—thoughts—because when I opened my mouth, I worried everyone would remember I wasn’t supposed to be at the table in the first place. What started as a feeling that stopped me from speaking followed me in my career. That feeling stopped me from putting my hand up for a promotion, a raise, or for anything at all. It made me feel like I wasn’t supposed to be sitting in the boardroom—or anywhere near the building, for that matter. 

Talk to any woman who has been in the working world or in a leadership position in the past two decades, and she can tell you all about........

© Fast Company